


Afterwards

by lionessvalenti



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bathtubs, Multi, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 15:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17409242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: When Natasha needs to figure things out, she knows where to go.





	Afterwards

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Glinda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glinda/gifts).



> With many thanks to aurilly for beta reading!

There was no jangle of keys, no slamming of the door. Out of nowhere, like she'd been there all day, Natasha said, "Hey, Laura, I'm going to go take a bath."

After years of this, it didn't make Laura jump anymore. She set down the knife she was using to chop onions and took in the new information. Natasha was in the house. Laura had watched the destruction in DC on the news. She knew when all of SHIELD's files, even the most confidential, went public on the internet. She'd watched Natasha speak at the hearings.

That had better be a damn good bath.

Laura waited about ten minutes before she turned off the burners and poured a glass of wine. She left the food on the counters and went upstairs to the master bath. She knocked on the door and then pushed it open. "Hey."

Natasha was already in the water, her hair pulled up in a messy bun. She smiled as Laura stepped into the room. "Hi. Where is everyone?"

"Clint took the kids fishing."

"You were making spaghetti."

Laura chuckled. "Lasagna. I'm not actually expecting them to bring home fish. They mostly splash around and tangle up the line."

Natasha smiled briefly. "That sounds like fun."

"It is." Laura perched on the edge of the tub and toyed with one of the loose ringlets framing Nat's face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I just revealed myself to the entire world. What's there to talk about?" She swallowed and shifted slightly, rustling the water and the bubbles, a brown nipple revealing at the surface. "Did you read it?"

"No," Laura replied. "There was a lot to go through and I've been busy."

"Busy, huh?" A smile tugged at the corners of Natasha's lips. "You weren't curious at all?"

Laura took a sip of wine and set the glass down where Natasha could reach it if she wanted to. "There's nothing in there that would change the way I see you. I know some of it, the things you or Clint have said, but..."

"But?"

"I don't need to know. I don't even want to know. We all do bad things, Nat. Maybe yours are worse, I have no way of knowing, but who cares? You do a lot of good. That's more important." She reached down and traced her finger around the bullet wound in Natasha's shoulder. It was healing, the dark pink scarring puckering around the edges, but it wasn't healed. It would take time, just like Nat.

Natasha reached up and wrapped her hand around Laura's wrist. Her skin was wet and warm, and her grip wasn't nearly as strong as Laura knew it could be. "I thought I was going to die. He was coming for me, and I froze. I didn't think about you or Clint, or the kids. I was completely frozen. I'd be dead if it wasn't for Steve."

Laura hesitated. She knew a platitude ( _we all freeze sometimes_ ) wouldn't suffice. Not when it was literally life or death. She also didn't like thinking about Natasha being that close to dying. It was the sort of thing that kept her up at night, and knowing Nat had been standing at the brink of it gave Laura a queasy feeling. But she smiled. 

"Then remind me to send Steve a fruit basket."

Natasha laughed and released Laura's wrist. "That's what my life is worth? A fruit basket?"

"A really good fruit basket?"

"You're ridiculous. Get in here."

"If you insist." The tub was big enough for two (three was an uncomfortable squeeze of too many limbs), so Laura stripped off her shirt, bra, and pants, but left on her underwear. There seemed to be something a little naughty about getting into the bath still semi-clothed. Or maybe she was thinking about soaking wet panties. 

And they were soaked as she slipped into the tub. She stretched out across Natasha's body, straddling her lap, their faces inches apart. Natasha leaned forward, barely even moving her head, and tenderly brushed her lips against Laura's. 

Whatever Nat needed, Laura thought absently as she kissed Natasha back. She had just lost everything short of her life, and she nearly lost that, more than once, from the sound of it. If she wanted tender kisses, Laura would give it to her.

They kissed, Natasha's thumb casually circling Laura's nipple, until Laura heard the door slam shut downstairs.

"Laura?" Clint called a few seconds later. He sounded... concerned.

Of course he did; she had turned off the burners and abandoned dinner in the middle of making it. Clint was a man with enemies. Maybe more of them now than ever. Natasha wasn't the only one who had been revealed in the SHIELD documents. If the country wanted transparency, they had it, including all of Clint’s dirty deeds.

Laura hadn't read his files either.

"I'm in the bath!" Laura called, turning her face away from Natasha's as she did. She kissed Nat again and then slid back to the other end of the tub. She sank into the bubbles, letting them nearly cover her breasts. There were already so few, and Natasha was certainly exposed enough for the both of them.

It took a few minutes before Clint made his way up to the master bath. Probably plopping the kids in front of the TV. They had blocked the news channels for the time being. He pushed open the door and blinked at the scene in front of him. "Oh."

"Hey, stranger," Natasha said. She sounded cool, but her eyes were sparkling at the sight of Clint out of uniform -- jeans, tee shirt, flannel.

Clint didn't make a move into the room. "When did you get here?"

"'Bout an hour ago. Are you going to come say hi?"

Finally, he walked into the room, closing the door behind him. "Hi. You okay?"

Natasha nodded, and then pointed to the wound in her shoulder. "Got shot."

That was what made Clint cross the few strides to the tub. He sat down on the edge, where Laura had been moments before. "I'm pretty sure we agreed that the other guys get shot, not us."

She shrugged. "Sometimes it can't be helped."

"Did you get him, at least?"

"No, but Steve's on it." Natasha reached for the wine glass and brought it to her lips. "Are you okay? I didn't exactly call and ask permission."

"You could have called. For backup."

"It was your week off."

Clint made a very non-threatening growling sound. "You should have called. I would have come. I could have helped."

Natasha shook her head. "We were all right."

"SHIELD just fell, we're both out of a job, you got shot, and half of DC was blown up. What part of that is all right?"

She sighed loudly. "We made it. Now tell me you're not mad."

"I'm not mad. All my good secrets are off the record." Clint's gaze flashed fondly to Laura. "Right, babe?"

"Right." Laura brushed her foot against Natasha's thigh.

"I wouldn't have done it if I thought it would compromise this," Natasha said quickly. "I know that's selfish and HYDRA could have kept on going, but I wouldn't let anyone come here."

"Jesus, Nat, I know." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He didn't quite move away as his fingers brushed against the outer shell of her ear, and she shuddered. She gave him a look like she was about to drag him into the tub with them, lack of room be damned.

"I don't think it's that bad," Clint continued. "We can start over."

Nat made a face. "In the spotlight."

"We were already there. Haven't you see the Black Widow Halloween costume?"

She wasn't taking the lighthearted bait. "Did you read it?"

Clint had. Laura knew he had. He'd pored over it for days. There was a lot to go through, and he had been like an addict, thinking about when he could get back to reading it every time he'd been pulled away from the computer. He’d tried to pass it off like it was no big deal, but he was obsessed. It wasn't about finding out all of Natasha's secrets, but SHIELD's. HYDRA's. He’d needed to know what he'd done and in whose name.

"Only the good parts," Clint replied, finally sitting upright. He took Natasha's hand and splayed it palm-up in his own. He traced a finger down her lifeline. "You're starting to get pruny. I'll finish dinner. You two make yourselves decent -- there are children downstairs."

He slipped out of the room, and Laura gazed across the tub to Natasha.

"You ready to face the pandemonium?" 

Natasha smiled. "I just spent the last week getting shot at, blown up, and standing in the wake of the general chaos that surrounds Steve Rogers. You think your _kids_ are pandemonium?"

"We have fewer explosions, sure, but I think we're more fun." Laura stood up and peeled off her completely saturated underwear. She wrung them out and then tossed them in the hamper. She glanced down at Natasha, who was staring at her. "What?"

It could be easy to feel self conscious. She'd worked hard to get her stomach relatively flat after her second pregnancy, but there was always going to be pooch she'd never quite be able to get rid of, and a few faint stretch marks that were a part of her forever. She wouldn't trade any of it, but if anyone could feel authorized to judge, it would be Natasha with her perfect body, save a couple of scars, which honestly, made her even more attractive.

But they were way past that.

"Nothing," Natasha said with a little smile. "I like looking at you. I like... being here."

Laura stepped out of the tub. "Then stay. As long as you'd like." She grabbed her robe off the hook on the back of the door, making a mental note that they needed a third hook, and pulled it on. She closed the bathroom door to give Natasha some privacy.

Every part of having Natasha with them seemed completely natural, right down to the first time they invited her to their bed. But she never stayed, not more than a few days at a time. Maybe this was the start of something new.

Laura got dressed and went downstairs to help Clint with the dinner she'd started. He was great around the house, but outside of chopping the vegetables, he wasn't very useful in the kitchen. But she appreciated the way he always tried.

"She okay?" Clint asked when Laura sidled up next to him in front of the island. "For real?"

"I think she got shaken up by the whole thing," Laura replied.

"She hates it when that happens."

"Yeah. I think she was afraid we wouldn't want to keep her anymore."

Clint leaned over and pressed his face into Laura's neck. "We're going to have to make sure she knows that's not the case."

"Yep." Laura hip-checked him gently. "The kids are suspiciously quiet. I've got this."

He kissed her neck and disappeared out of the kitchen.

Laura hadn't read the files. Clint had told her what he could, and sometimes that was too much. She trusted that he knew what we was doing, and that he'd come back alive. But every time he walked out that door, she worried. She didn't need to know the details.

For right now, she could relax. She knew where Clint was. She knew where Natasha was. They were safe. They were home.


End file.
